The Greatest Week That Ever Was

Yup, that title pretty much sums it up.  (I can't seem to upload pictures right now, but I've posted a link at the bottom of the post to my Facebook album)

Let's jump back to the night before I left for my 8 day (almost 9) trip.  It was the worst day at work ever.  Pretty much, my brain had taken a vacation that whole week and I ended up messing up a few books.  Additionally, I found one of my supervisors saying untrue or exaggerated things about me.  AND, one of the medications that we were testing out was WAY too high of a dose and my patient had severe reactions that I tended to for 13 hours the day before.  I was exhausted and felt like life had prepped me even more to be ready to go on vacation.

Thursday morning, I hopped on a plane and flew hundreds of miles to Orlando, Florida to meet up with my sister, Laura, and our best friend for 21 years, Krissy.  We met up and got all giddy about our midnight showing of Harry Potter 7 IMAX tickets.  Laura had picked up the car previously so it was ready once Krissy and I arrived.  As we climbed inside, it dawned on Krissy and I that we really didn't know where we were staying or how to get anywhere or had any other plans arranged.  And that is why we love Laura.  She takes after my Dad, who researches every little detail of a trip to make sure that everything is perfect and jam-packed with fun.  I wish I was like this and hope to be like this day, but for now, I think I am more like my Mom-I just show up and go along with the ride. 

We got to the theater at 8 pm and anticipated a bit of a line since usually we would get in line at 7 PM.  To our surprise, there were few in line-what amateurs.  We grabbed some dinner and got back in like at 9 PM and caught up with each other.  We decided to wait to get popcorn until 11:30 PM so it could be warm, but wanted to be sure to allow enough time to get popcorn.  Boy, were we wrong.  I went out to get it and to my horror, at least 50 people are in line.  Okay, okay, calm down Becca.  This has to move fast.  I mean, these people must know what day this is, right?  Well, the line DID NOT move fast and by 11:50 pm, I was in pre-anxiety attack mode with 7 people in front of me.  Krissy came out to check on things and I asked her to stay with me since I was so scared.  The clock stroke midnight and we were frantically calling Laura in the theater to check on the status, unsure of whether we sacrifice popcorn or sacrifice the beginning of HP 7-my own Sophie's choice.  We heckled the cashier lady who was moving at a snail's pace and finally got to the front.  "WE NEED 1 BUCKET OF POPCORN, A LARGE COKE ZERO, AND A WATER. Actually, nix the coke zero THERE'S NO TIME!!"  Krissy and I sprinted into the theaters and when we flung open the doors, the IMAX screen was doing a countdown from 5 like it was mocking us.  We bolted up 50 stairs and ran into our seat, plopped down as the movie title came up.  Krissy says she hasn't had that much adrenaline pumping in years.  Phew.

Needless to say, HP 7 was the best movie ever.  The next day, with 5 hours of sleep, we skipped to Harry Potter World (inside Islands of Adventure).  I love theme parks.  The music they play as you enter the park makes me feel about 7 years old because of all the excitement.  (And if you do not know anything about Harry Potter, I doubt that the below paragraph will make any sense)  We got to the entrance of Hogsmeade and it looks exactly like the movie/book.  I'll let my pictures do the talking.  Points of special interest were the Hogwarts ride (The Forbidden Journey) but it takes place in the castle.  You walk through Hogwarts castle and everything looks so real, from Dumbledore's office to the Potions class to the hallways which are filled with framed pictures of people who talk and move, as in the books/movies. I just had to include a link to a video of the castle, and no, the music never gets old.  The ride is a mix between the Indiana Jones ride and a 3-D thrill ride.  During one point in the ride, there are a bunch of real (not 3-D sketch) dementors.  Because of my position in the car, one of the dementors bent towards me and began doing the dementor's kiss and I don't believe I have screamed that hard and at that pitch since.............who knows.  Those things are SCARY.

We retired to the Three Broomsticks where we drank pumpkin juice and Butterbeer.  Pumpkin juice tastes similar to pumpkin pie, but in juice form.  They use all the same spices used in pumpkin pie.  Butterbeer is pure heaven.  It is like a butterscotch-carmely-fizzy drink with a thick vanilla whipped cream on top.  I have to find a recipe that is at least half as good as it.  I drink from my souvenir Butterbeer currently, but sadly, it only has water in it.

We went into Honeydukes, the Owl Post, Zonko's, and part of Ollivander's.  Dueling dragons was a ridiculous rollercoaster that was there before, but they have now turned it into Dragon Challenge and decorated the line to fit HP.  It still has a suprisingly short wait line (like 5 minutes) but throws you around numberous loops and dives while making close encounters with another "dragon" (train full of riders) several times at high speeds.  It's awesome, but if you ride more than 3 times you will likely feel very ill.  Just a heads up.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom because, duh, it's the happiest place on Earth.  But HP world is giving them a run for their money.  Space Mountain was working this time (last year it was not and I was pissed) and I forgot how freaking scary that one can be.  You can't see where you are going and it seems much faster than any other ride at Disney.  It was very crouded, with it being a Saturday, but we never waited in line longer than 30 minutes.

By late afternoon, we were already getting tired so we decided to leave the park and see HP 7 again.  Plus, it was a chance for me to see Fantasy Island and Downtown Disney.  Well, there are no direct buses from Magic Kingdom to DD and no MK workers know how to get there, apparently.  Having received 7 different directions from employees, we inevitably got lost and ended up walking miles more.  But it's fine.  We got there, saw the movie again, and was able to get back to MK for fireworks, the parade, and a couple more rides.  It's hard not to choke up when you  watch the fireworks over the castle to the tune of "When you wish upon a star" with voice overs of different characters encouraging you to follow your dreams.  Disney does everything right. 

We stayed up late, ate lots of sugary treats, ran around parks, and lived our childhood dreams.  Sunday morning, we sadly departed from Krissy, but my adventure continued in NYC with Laura.  More on that later...for now, you can gaze at my album that sums up my trip on Facebook.